DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 21 



fireside conference had taken unto themselves another, a smil- 

 ing blonde-haired individual whose name is known to all stu- 

 dents of American ornithology. Later they added two more to 

 their number, one a cheerful fellow, who while he loves the bird 

 in the bush, cares still more for the bush containing the bird, 

 for it is among the botanists that we must look to find his name 

 emblazoned; the other a man of learning, an instructor in one 

 of America's greatest universities, a close student of birds, with 

 a keen love for out-door life. 



The diners separated after having come to certain definite 

 conclusions. All were enthusiastically interested in the scheme. 

 They at once planned a campaign of search for a possible loca- 

 tion. They were agreed in thinking that the spot should not be 

 more than twenty miles from Philadelphia, and that a return 

 ticket should not cost more than one dollar. 



Investigations to the north, south and west on the Pennsyl- 

 vania side of the Delaware revealed no satisfactory location. 

 At a later gathering some one boldly "took the bull by the 

 horns," and said, " Well, I suppose there is nothing for it but 

 Jersey." For the benefit of readers residing far from the be- 

 nign influences of the Delaware valley, let me state that it is 

 customary for Pennsylvanians in general, and Philadelphians in 

 particular, to speak in a haughty, and even contumelious man- 

 ner when referring to our sister State. There is nothing to jus- 

 tify it ; it's just a time-honored custom, with no real malice 

 back of it. Having thus asserted our superiority, we straight- 

 way betake ourselves for the months of summer to the shining 

 sands and surf of Jersey's health-giving coasts, where for a long 

 series of weeks the busy natives devote themselves to the pleas- 

 ant task of separating us from our hard-earned cash. 



But between the sea and the river lie sixty miles of sandy 

 soil, well watered by streams that flow with a dark, strong cur- 

 rent. There are the highly cultivated sections, which extend 

 across the northern half of the State and down the eastern shore 

 of the Delaware, and then there is the great central wilderness, 

 stretching southward from the middle of the State and reaching 

 at most points to the coast. It is a region of pine and oak and 

 cedar, lonely and level, where the deer is still to be found and 



